From the Grass Roots

I thought I took all the Twelve Steps at once, and how my halo glistened and how righteous I was. Last summer, a year after I joined AA, I took my first inventory. I was again in New York and had a lot of time to think, and also after a year without drinking, I had the ability to think. I decided to my consternation that I had been a complete phony all my life; reality had never been good enough for me. Everything had to be stepped up for me; everything had to be a ball, and the liquor was a great stepper-upper for awhile. I had three problems to lick: alcoholism, insane extravagance, and intense emotionalism--all a part of the same picture.